Every day Poets & Writers Magazine scans the headlines—from publishing reports to academic announcements to literary dispatches—for all the news that creative writers need to know. Here are today's stories:
After long not allowing his work to be sold digitally, Thomas Pynchon has reached an agreement with Penguin Press to publish his entire backlist of titles as e-books. (New York Times)
Novelist Helen Oyeyemi explained to the Guardian how she uses the Write or Die computer application to ward off writer's block: "Activate kamikaze mode, the screen lets you pause typing for about forty-five seconds before it begins deleting words you've already written."
For the blog at Small Demons, novelist Alix Ohlin—whose new book Inside was just released—writes of childhood synesthesia and how the visual has shaped her writing.
Michael Gove, England's Secretary of State for Education, intends to reintroduce the memorization and recitation of poetry among the United Kingdom's school children, beginning at age five. (Guardian)
And in light of this school curriculum initiative in the United Kingdom, Alexander Nazaryan at the New York Daily News thinks it's a good idea. He writes, "Memory is not only possession, but insulation, an armament against boredom, privation, suffering."
Meanwhile, Laura Miller at Salon weighs in on the merits of resurrecting the memorization of poetry.
Take this online quiz to answer the Guardian's question: "How much poetry do you know by heart?"
In case you weren't able to visit London’s Mayor Gallery in November, the Paris Review Daily features drawings created by Sylvia Plath.
William Butler Yeats was born on this day in 1865, and in Ireland's County Sligo, they are celebrating. (Independent)
